Freedom APA

Freedom  APA

Freedom APA is an alternative press association with one expectation: participate where, when and how you are able. Consider this letter as an invite to join Freedom APA! The first mailing of 2021 is scheduled for May 2021. If you send materials for the bundle, 18 items are needed and I must receive them by 4/30/2021. As of now going forward, membership dues of $20 annually are suspended and this is a free / voluntary / by donation only project. 

Items for the mailing bundle may include mail art, printed journals, chapbooks, zines, cds, dvds, cassettes, LPs, envelopes, postcards, bookmarks, recipes, stamps, letters, or whatever you choose to create. Everything is sent to the editor/mailer, assembled into bundles and then three or four bundles are mailed per year, approximately every three and a half months. You send items for the bundle & everyone else in Freedom APA gets a wonderful mail day.

Please make sure that I have your correct mailing address. Please no R or X rated material.

Freedom APA is intended to be fun & embrace the spirit of personal journalism, zine making, letter writing, graphic arts, mail art, DIY printing, poetry, homemade music, creative projects, podcasting & more. With your help, this will be an enjoyable mailing circle project full of creativity.

Freedom APA is a postal-only activity and does not currently have an online presence. However, you may email me for further details: singinggrove@conknet.com.

See you at the mailbox!

Frederick Moe    36 West Main     Warner NH    03278

Resisting Capitalism for Fun by Laura-Marie

Resisting Capitalism for Fun

Life shouldn’t be a struggle & neither should resisting capitalism! Laura-Marie talks about being anarchist, living in community, and gives dozens of meaningful methods for dealing with capitalism. Her writing comes from lived experience and reading this zine is like reading a hope-full letter from an insightful friend. We are all immersed in this broken system called capitalism – isn’t it time for something better? 

Personal statement: I’m a terrible capitalist and have never felt comfortable with the corporate economic system that turns us into commodities and products. Capitalism has been responsible for depersonalization, objectification, rampant consumerism, and the de-valuing of human relationships in general. So this is a timely and much needed zine as we seem to be living in a system that values “wealth” and “profit” above everything else, even our mother earth. Resistance is not futile.

Glean Zine

Nicki’s zine delves into some issues that are near and dear to my heart – hunger in an abundant society and what we can do about it. Glean Zine presents an easy to (pun alert - sorry!) digest introduction to food recovery. We live in a culture that wastes more food than it consumes yet people are starving for nutrition (and genuine affection). This is a problem that is easily solved if we have the desire to solve it. Even in my own neighborhood, I see fruit trees with delicious fruit that is never picked to share. The next time you are at a supermarket & see all that “perfect” produce please remember: Many people are in need of a meal today. Our perfection is killing us.

https://www.antiquatedfuture.com/zines/glean-zine/

aric - Forward Posture of the Head at Rest

Short & sweet indie excursions just right for the commute to work. Experimental and folky at the same time with gorgeous vocals on some songs & dreamy instrumentals on others. Perfect for sunlit dappled days. There is an old cliche that one should "leave them wanting more". I'm curious as to how aric's music will evolve from here.

https://aricsmejkal.bandcamp.com/album/forward-posture-of-the-head-at-rest

wio - Brilliant Brummagems - Unread #244

Another homegrown mystery surfacing through the cassette ionosphere ... some musicians set themselves a song per day challenge but here we have a song per 15 minute work ethic. Brilliant Brummagems is like a collage of your favorite sounds compressed into the time/space continuum. Each piece makes delirious sense & creativity abounds in every drone & note. Brilliant Brummages is meant to be experienced as a whole: listen through then flip the tape over and hit play again. A Shut Mouth Catches No Flies is a perfect closer: an Einstein-inspired folk dirge for the scientific (anti)social media generation where narcissism is louder than bombs.

https://unreadrecords.bandcamp.com/album/unread-244

Mud Pie Sun: New Swing Mood Things / Two At Noon

Where to begin a review with a release that is this monumental? First released in May 1992, this cassette reflects both those times, the times before, and the times now. Contemplative yet astute lyrics, hazy folk shambles, one can almost visualize the psychedelic haze hovering over the recordings proceedings. The cumulative effect of these original songs is nothing less than stunning - every song lives within its own impeccable universe. Two cover songs are included as well (one by the Silly Pillows and one by the Jacobites). Musically I would rate Mud Pie Sun right up there with my favorite bands that recorded for Independent Project Records back in that era - just more acoustic / jangle oriented. If the DIY / indie ethic brings you joy, don't miss this.

Andy Rench - As Long As It's Today

Finally a new cassette review!

We here at Why The Tapes Play love real music created for and by real people. What attracted me initially about Andy Rench's self released debut is the cover aesthetics - what appears to be a photograph of a suburban home circa mid 20th century washed in cranberry tones.  I thought: the music contained herein must be something special. And I was right. 

As Long As It's Today is musically adventurous, steeped in folk and DIY traditions, yet transcendent. The songs seem to be about time and distance and freedom; they feel tethered to the scorched desert earth from some dreamlike timespace. This is truly lo-fi nocturnal music in the best sense: hazy, moonlit, wistful and hopeful. Inventive guitar licks & not too much technical trickery. Certainly my favorite cassette release of 2019 thusfar. 

https://andyrench.bandcamp.com/album/as-long-as-its-today

Brockbeats - Easy Listening

It is no secret that ye olde DJ Frederick tremendously enjoys library and production music. Combing though new releases, this cassette caught my ear on Bandcamp & less than two weeks later was in my mailbox here in NH all the way from Japan. Easy Listening conjures aural visions of daze gone by: 1960's AM radio, black & white television, wordless choral groups, smoky late night jazz. It is one part easy listening, one part hip-hop beats, one part soundtrack for a forgotten, grainy film. Completely music to my ears - this is not nostalgia, this is music distilled through the decades to this present moment.


https://brockbeats.bandcamp.com/album/easy-listening

Tremolo Ghosts / CaRTeR - Joy

Twinkly guitar acoustic noodling segues into atmospheric experimentations: we strain our ears to hear the stations through cloudy static. These pieces feel organic and improvised, and bring to the mind's eye the ephemeral nature of shortwave transmissions. One moment there is sound, perhaps a distant church bell, perhaps a seagull's cry wheeling over the water. Another artistic leap forward for one of my personal favorite musicians, Tremolo Ghosts.

https://tremologhosts.bandcamp.com/album/joy

Mutual Benefit - I Saw The Sea

Hearkening back to 2011, Mutual Benefit's I Saw The Sea greets you with shimmering tones for open ears. We've turned the corner into a new decade of a not-so-new century, weary of pop music and ready to establish new sonic territory. I Saw The Sea is that territory: hushed blue ambiance, sparkling bells, a sense of being at home with banjo twang & a longing heart.

Mutual Benefit present us with jewel from the ocean waves. Cassettes of this ethereal release seem to be sold out, however free downloads remain.

https://mutualbenefit.bandcamp.com/album/i-saw-the-sea

Black Eagle Child - Six Lugubrious Airs

The title of Black Eagle Child's recent cassette on Geology Records is a misnomer. There are eight, not six, musical pieces (airs?) presented here and they are anything but lugubrious. Michael Jantz breaks out banjos, accordions, percussion and waves of acoustic and electric guitar, weaving folky melodies into space jams. The end result is dense in moments and meandering in others, resulting in a psychedelic & joyous journey into the airs. Or clouds. Or dark desert highways.

https://geologyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/six-lugubrious-airs-2

Nick Keeling - Coffee Music

Reviewing is not really my "thing" but I write this blog to call attention to zines, music, and projects that I feel are worthy of exploration. Nick Keeling is a musician who captures the spirit of improvisation within melodic structures via acoustic piano and tape manipulation mixed with field recordings. It's like this music is absorbed into the very DNA of creativity - giving voice to specific times & places, forgotten railroads, rusting avenues, closed steel mills. All of Nick's tapes are brilliant and his music is gorgeous.

Coffee Music is comprised of six dream-like compositions and every note resonates. Soothing and authentic. Make my coffee with some french vanilla, please, and hit "play". 

 https://nickkeeling.bandcamp.com/album/coffee-music

Medline - Solstice

Oh my stars ... those three words could comprise this entire review. To elaborate: it is no secret that Ye Olde DJ is enamored of library music - the jazz / funk / easy tempo / experimental world that inhabits our consciousness just off screen; music made from both necessity and utility, much of it made by session artists who wrote and recorded dozens of tracks every month. Medline has crafted a loving homage to library music, covering eight standout compositions, all of which I am familiar with from original recordings. What Medline lacks in experimentation here, it blooms with integrity, presenting these eight tunes seamlessly with clarifying beauty. The selections are phenomenal: the title theme from Savage Planet; Pete Moore's slinky Shady Blues; Arawak's wonderful Accadde a Bali. Solstice is  a standout cassette (also released on vinyl). Don't snooze on this one.

https://mybags.bandcamp.com/album/solstice

Corduroy EP

Baltimore indie pop band Corduroy released this new EP of six songs early in 2019 and it is the antidote for winter blues & entropy. These tunes harken back to an earlier era of home recording & artisan jangle pop - they have built a solid homestead on the foundation of Sarah Records (or insert your favorite indie label here). The tunes alternate between laid back ballads & high energy songs, just the right mix of melancholy and energy. Welcome the new year with a new musical friend. Corduroy feels snug and warm.

https://corduroyyy.bandcamp.com/album/corduroy-ep

Foliage // Andrew Younker: The Split Cassette

This is the real deal - shimmering shoegaze guitar, scintillating keyboards, melodic echo from the left hemisphere of your consciousness. Beautiful songwriting, craft honed from a bygone age, perhaps the previous century. Timeless and current, six pieces for your autumnal wintry summerish commute. All too brief, like all things ephemeral and gorgeous.


Side A:
Forever - (Manuel Joseph Walker) 
Be Transparent - (Manuel Joseph Walker) 
Nervous To Exist Around You - (Cover by Manuel Joseph Walker, 
Written by Andrew Younker) 

Side B:
Thankful - (Andrew Younker) 
Unhook The Stars - (Andrew Younker) 
Value - (Cover by Andrew Younker, Written by Manuel Joseph Walker) 

https://ztapes.bandcamp.com/album/foliage-andrew-younker-the-split

Fog Lake / Euphoria Again split cassette

Fog Lake is the perfect name for this hazy band -whispery vocals that rise through clouds of memory, tunes that weaves moonlight and autumn into its melodies. There's lo-fi production, chiming guitars, pianos half submerged in water. Brilliant A side from Fog Lake , but the "split" side from Euphoria Again was so pedestrian that I fast forwarded through most of it. 

https://foglake.bandcamp.com/album/fog-lake-euphoria-again

Mandala Eyes - Road Memory (digital release)

...and now for a rare digital release on this cassette (and sometimes zine) review blog. The music of Mandala Eyes has been mesmerizing me for a few years now: homegrown, heartfelt, real to the point of aching and ecstasy. Road Memory is a trip through the musical consciousness of Alex, who writes "as 2018 ends and i find myself living in my home state again for the first time in 4 years, i was combing through the debris and found these old demos, intended to be played on the road. i reflected on the thousands of miles and versions of self i've driven through in these last few nomadic years, and thought of how i currently struggle with navigating life. i drew from those memories of significant travels and on-the-way times for texture and inspiration, when i polished the best of the tunes into a finished listenable state. now those memories are sounds, and i hope they help soundtrack the possibilities and changes of our future trip". 

Road Memory is a soundtrack for the highway of the mind, all winter, wind & angled light. 


https://mandalaeyes.com/album/road-memory

Alternate Skies - Pacific Forecast

This could be the ultimate nerd / geek soundtrack. During the 1980's, I spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME obsessing over weather and watching the then newly launched Weather Channel on cable TV. And yeah - somewhere deep in the nether-regions of my brain, the innocuous instrumental tunes that accompanied forecasts took up residence. And now they're back in cassette form. Is this music nostalgia? Or is it the perfect soundtrack to our hectic, plugged-in lives? Five stars from ye olde DJ.

https://alternateskies.bandcamp.com/album/pacific-forecast

Adrian Knight - Vacation Man

At first blush, this cassette made me think it had fallen through a space-time vortex from 1979. Heavy influences range from Steely Dan to Alan Parsons Project and other late night rotation AM radio hits. As the music progresses, however, a vague sense of unease sets in. Nostalgia morphs into moden anxiety and the despair of unfulfilled relationships. Adrian's lyrics are edgy and spare no dark emotion:

Lost a whole week stuck in bed
I couldn’t get up even if I tried
Called in sick to make some space inside my head
Karen at the pawnshop said
you can’t just keep paddling on in the dangerous tide
Lucy’s gone but you’re still alive

... and that's some of the lighter stuff. The last track, Radiogram, even sounded depressed, like it was recorded deep within the recesses of an abandoned factory at midnight. Vacation Man is no vacation. Musically, however, Vacation Man captivates with a surreal retro sensibility. 

Spacebomb House Band: Library Music 4: Return of the End of Time

Return of the End of Time sounds like a lost episode from Doctor Who, and this cassette definitely has a more science-fiction sensibility than the previous three Library Music releases from Spacebomb House Band. More of an EP than a fully realized work, Return of the End of Time rolls out with darker, more synthesized sounds, and takes its sweet time in lightening up. The beauty of library music is the range of sonic patterns and worlds that it explores as a "genre", like folk music it can bend and morph and be recreated almost infinitely. Spacebomb House Band is applying that creative process to its evolution as a musical collective. Each release is its own sonic adventure. Just add your imagination.

https://spacebombhouseband.bandcamp.com/album/library-music-iv-return-of-the-end-of-time

Bubblegum Best 1998 - 2018

What's better than receiving a handwritten note from a musician with your cassette? A cassette that is created specifically for the recipient. Nathan Budde aka Bubblegum Best sent me a 90 minute compilation of music from twenty years of songwriting and recording and it is magnificent. From the opening track titled (appropriately) "Mixtape" to the last notes on side B, I was captivated by the seamless journey the music takes you on. Bedroom pop? Space folk? Indie music that glows in the dark and is wholly original.

https://bubblegumbest.bandcamp.com/music

Ancient Forest - Richard's Selections

What attracted me to this cassette was the first track "Sealand" which may or may not be referring to the Roughs Tower sea fort in the Thames estuary that became a pirate radio haven and later a sovereign micronation. Based upon the lyrics, I can't make a direct connection between the song and the place - a place that could be easily mined for musical inspiration. Overall, Richard's Selections holds some interesting moments (the song "Purple" being a strong contender for most fully realized track on this tape) however the music feels relatively lackluster and pedestrian overall, and at $9 which seems a bit steep for a digital download, I prefer the physical cassette instead which is available from Jigsaw Records. On the other hand - indie musicians need to make a living!

 https://jigsaw-records.com/collections/cassettes/products/ancient-forest-richards-selections-cd-cs

Sklavo Cervalo - A Horse for the Stranger

Halfway through listening to the first track on A Horse for the Stranger (Satellite Park Messiah) I knew this was no simple indie pop cassette. The lyrics turn from pedestrian songwriting to something dark, then fade out on a chant that sounds up "your fucked up quiet life". My ancient ears might be mis-hearing those lyrics. Regardless, the music here feels like a wake-up call, to fall away from the knife-edge of indecision to take the bold, untraveled road. The cumulative effect of these songs are sobering and stunning, celebrating maturity and the journey of coming into artistic fullness. "The Looting of Paradise Suburbia" literally seems like an audio soundtrack to what haunts our mundane dreams; and "Night Light of Insight (An Aging Paradigm)" guides the listener down the garden path and into the night, fading out with a chorus of twilight birds. There are only 20 copies of this cassette and I am thrilled to own one of them. Rewind. Play. This is a worthy musical adventure. Go deeper.

https://uraudiovisual.bandcamp.com/album/ur-cassette-006-a-horse-for-the-stranger 

Zine Review: Listen Up 2

About two decades ago, the “be your own media” movement really accelerated in the pirate radio world, and around the same time, the podcasting scene started to take hold. It was the audio version of zines, as technology placed the means of audio production at people’s fingertips (literally). Podcasts are now so plentiful that the dream of microcasting has become a reality – anyone can now produce a show that maybe only a handful of people listen to – however, the show is produced for them, like telling a story around the campfire for your circle of friends. Listen Up 2 is a colorful zine of podcast reviews that introduces readers to lesser-known podcasts and even suggests episodes to begin listening with. Katie digs into podcasts like This is Actually Happening, and By the Book which you might otherwise overlook. I hope she continues with regular podcast review zines – this is a very useful resource to help you explore the expanding podcast universe.

Contact email: aubadezine@gmail.com

Leon Patriz - Pop Monstrosities

Full disclosure: I tend to listen through a cassette once and write these brief, ephemeral reviews after one listening session. At first I chose not to review Pop Monstrosities because I thought: why review somethings that you don't have a favorable impression of? However, upon second listen, the gems that are sprinkled throughout this tape emerge. I generally don't care much for the crunchier, drone-y pieces, however the raw edges of this tape begin to take root and delight. There is emotional urgency in the lyrics and both melodic and discordant elements that carry these songs beyond the mundane into something deep and true.  Worth more than one listen - or perhaps you will connect immediately with the shambolic homegrown glory within.

https://leonpatriz.bandcamp.com/album/pop-monstrosities

Man meets Bear - Temples of Zion

Immersive journeys into natural landscapes and psychedelic meanderings punctuate Temples of Zion, the most recent cassette by Man meets Bear. Glitchy beats, hushed vocals, distant accordion drones, shimming guitars lead you on a journey into both open vistas and interior spaces. Some of the composition titles are "Muir Bathes in the Great Salt Lake" and "Wind Caves Over Logan Canyon". Musically these themes drift and calm, a balm for frenetic times.

https://manmeetsbear.bandcamp.com/

Spacebomb House Band: Library Music III: For the Sun and Waters

How many sounds can you pack into a thirty minute cassette? If there were some kind of weird sonic competition, Spacebomb House Band would win, hands down. Library Music III: For the Sun and Waters continues the journey launched via the first two tapes in this series - we begin somewhere left of Saturn & adventure on from there. Sun Ra would be smiling. How to "categorize" this music? Future library? Sci-fi funk? These pieces veer from noisy glitch to neo-classical, some speckled with wordless vocals. If we're fortunate, there will be a fourth tape in this series. And a fifth.

 https://spacebombhouseband.bandcamp.com/album/library-music-iii-for-the-sun-and-waters 

Evan Anderson - Pillow Talk

With it's black & white iron horse photograph on the cover & typewriter font graphics, this cassette is lovely to look at. Evan Anderson has crafted four pieces titled simply 1, II, III and IV. He overlays steel string guitar with some electric leads in places - the overall effect is rambling, melodic,and slightly unsettling: like hopping the rails & finding that your familiar landscape has changed in both beauty and scale. Evan's guitar style is both traditional and inventive - these instrumentals would not be out of place on the Windham Hill label back in the day (please read that as a complement). Pillow Talk is a soundtrack for your next catching out adventure.

https://evancanderson.bandcamp.com/album/pillow-talk

Smooth Cactus: An overlooked gem from 2017

The soundscapes of the mind that echo throughout Smooth Cactus are an excursion through attic rooms full of abandoned VCR tapes, transistor radios, and analogue synthesizers. Smooth Cactus collects artifacts from ephemeral inspirations as diverse as shortwave transmissions & old TV idents & weaves them into a library exhibition from the spacetime continuum. Occasionally, unexpected elements surface to please the inner ear: an acoustic guitar, an oriental riff, a playful nod to Isao Tomita.

Ye olde DJ has recently launched a library music show called At The Tone via The Global Voice (theglobalvoice.info) and Smooth Cactus will flow right into the playlist. Exploring music should be fun - after almost a year since my first listen, this cassette is a wondrous pleasure to re-visit.

https://smoothcactus.bandcamp.com/album/smooth-cactus

Docks - Montseny

Your afternoon drive will be enhanced by this eponymous set of five ambient guitar pieces from Manon Raupp and Daniel Selig who record under the name Docks. Perfect headphone soundscapes for eyelid movies, or following a winding dusty road through the woods. Post-rock, chiming, rhythmic, hypnotic - a wonderful EP from first note to last.


https://docksdocks.bandcamp.com/album/montseny-ep

Cave People - Salt

I don't have much intel on this band, other than according to their Bandcamp page here is the personnel lineup:

Drums by Derrick Macias Brandon 
Guitar, Keyboards, and Bass by Russell Edling 
Guitar and Vocals by Dave Tomaine

Salt is a five song EP that veers through indie folk territory with a nod or two to the punk aesthetic. The strongest songs bookend this cassette Are You Looking and I Shall Believe. Little did I know that I Shall Believe is a Sheryl Crow cover - it's an outstanding, religious anthem to the need for comfort and honesty in relationships, which are not mutually exclusive. Salt is a major effort by a band that I hope will find its way into your ears in the not too distant future.

https://cavepeople.bandcamp.com/album/salt

Woolen Warrior - Dear Crone

Dear Crone is an object of handcrafted beauty with indie folk sensibilities from Sam Gray & friends from the Olympia WA music scene. The tape comes in a hand-sewn, hand-stamped bag with a vellum insert. Unfortunately the insert does not contain song titles or lyrics, which would be appreciated. Why? Because the pond here is deep, lyrically this is a starling and truthful document. The title track Dear Crone is a searing folk blues that unmasks intense and fragile human relationships:

I'm the lantern that burns through the night 

you're the darkness that receives the light 

when I hear your name 

oh, please receive my light

These songs work together brilliantly like a musical river; moving past wellsprings of stark healing and beauty when least expected & end up leaning into the wind & rain - but not a cold wind, or a cold rain. Sometimes we ache for the light. And sometimes we are the light. 

https://woolenwarrior.bandcamp.com/album/dear-crone

Kevin Krauter - Toss Up

Toss Up has been released on green vinyl (complete with a paper airplane) & cassette. I'm completely happy with the cassette version - mostly because my honest feeling is the $20 for the vinyl isn't worth it.

Toss Up is comprised of nine songs, most of which are pedestrian indie pop music. The lyrics don't plunge too deeply into the human condition; the music is fairly derivative, like an amalgamation of other indie music that sounds vaguely familiar. Both side closers, however, are exceptional. Restless is a scintillating slice of instrumental synth pop, and the titular Toss Up soars when it finally lifts off. Kevin Krauter is certainly an accomplished musician & I'm sure will go somewhere interesting from this point of departure.

https://kevinkrauter.bandcamp.com/album/toss-up

Life - Living

Alex Alexander of Mandala Eyes coaxes music out of moments both ethereal and earthy. Living is a cassette that was released back in 2010 and re-released in 2012 & features two meandering guitar, bass & drum improvisations (at least they feel like improvisations - in reality these are probably highly constructed and crafted pieces). My favorite of these two epic compositions is Suitcase Full of Letters which is a title I might borrow for a future zine! Apparently there were only 25 copies of this cassette released, which makes it all the more a treasure.

https://lifepostrock.bandcamp.com/album/living

Fitzhugh Ralph Mason III - Fanny Pack

This cassette arrived without fanfare in a generic cassette with no printed titles. Apparently only ten copies of Fanny Pack were released. Minimalist, melodic, drifting grooves for the your summer drive - day, night, or evening. This cassette is a wonderful soundtrack to de-stress with: soothing, lo-key, highly enjoyable.

https://fitzhughralphmasoniii.bandcamp.com/album/fanny-pack

Bird Songs - In & Of

Bird Songs - In & Of

During my childhood, we almost lived through a revolution. The times were intense: war, racism, poverty, and the ever-grinding police state rolling over anyone who attempted to live the ideals of "be the change you want to see in the world". In & Of weaves audio from the revolution that almost was into gorgeous ambient guitar pieces. Buried somewhere in this audio archaeology is the presence of now. This cassette could be the soundtrack to a dream. Let's sleep like it's 1969.

https://roklokrecords.bandcamp.com/album/in-of

Ignoble Marmalade

Ignoble Marmalade


The raison d'etre of this blog is exactly because cassettes like this exist, have existed, and NEED to exist - individual creativity poured out on magnetic tape & shared with others. Dana Weisbrock has crafted a near perfect mix of ambient sounds & shimmery folk guitar; music at home in the woods and rainstorms and silent streets after midnight. Apparently only ten copies of this are available via bandcamp - don't waste any more time on this brief review - go there now & treat yourself to sounds that echo in the mind long after the stop button clicks. 


https://ignoblemarmalade.bandcamp.com/album/ignoble-marmalade